Big East
South Florida made a big statement Saturday in a game that meant a great deal to the program. The D dominated Florida State throughout and QB B.J. Daniels was dynamic rushing and passing. It was quite the starting debut for Daniels. The key now for coach Jim Leavitt is to keep his team focused on Syracuse this Saturday when the following game is Cincinnati on 10/15. We have witnessed fast starts by the Bulls before. Pittsburgh lost for the first time this season in a surprising shootout with North Carolina State. QB Russell Wilson tore apart the Panthers D for 322y passing with 4 TDs while adding 91y rushing.
ACC
Just like last season, once the ACC begins to make sense the action on the field turns things topsy-turvy. Not one team is unbeaten overall and most of the contenders have had performances (Miami to Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech to Alabama, North Carolina to Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech to Miami, BC to Clemson etc.) where they did not look very good. It is anyone’s guess who will play in the ACC title game.
SEC
Is Florida vulnerable? After the ugly game versus Tennessee and then concussion suffered by QB Tim Tebow in the rout of Kentucky, the Gators have had to overcome some obstacles. The good news for them is that no one in the East looks to be within seven points of them and LSU—expected to be the toughest team on the Florida schedule—prevailed by a whisker against Mississippi State (why use Dixon as a decoy on 3rd and 4th down from the half foot line?) and needs to improve a lot in two weeks. Alabama is playing as well as anyone in the conference at the moment, but finally has true road games coming up in clashes with Kentucky and Mississippi. The Rebels cannot look ahead to that game or they will lose to Vandy for the second straight year.
Big Ten
The conference currently has three 4-0 teams and not one them with the word “State” in their title as Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin stand alone after a wild weekend. Ohio State is improving by the week and remains the favorite, while both Illinois and Michigan State are looking more like second division rank and file as opposed to the title challengers they hoped to be when September began. There should be a lot of movement at the top after this weekend, although Iowa is safe for this week with Arkansas State coming to town. On their schedule the following week? Michigan.
Big 12
The conference race does not truly get into gear until next week as the sole game between Big 12 teams takes place in Kansas City where Iowa State and Kansas State do battle. Oklahoma travels to Miami to keep their national title hopes alive. A loss and the focus from now on will be the Big 12 title. Texas A&M meets Arkansas in Arlington to renew an old SWC battle. The two old rivals met every year from 1934 to 1991, but not since then. Tune in Friday for a Remember When look back on a past memorable game between the Hogs and Aggies. Meanwhile the dynamic Robert Griffin had his season end with a knee injury suffered in a game against Northwestern State. Baylor was not going to win the Big 12 South, but they would have made some noise in the conference and were targeting a post-season appearance for the first time since 1994. All that may be gone with the loss of Griffin, one of the most valuable players in football. Former starting QB Blake Szymanski is banged up as well, but needs to heal up soon to rally the Bears.
Pac 10
Oregon? The Ducks returned from near death in a big way by pouncing on the Bears this past week
end. They cannot maintain that level of defensive excitement over the course of the year, but do not have to this weekend against Washington State. Meanwhile, the upcoming clash between Cal and USC looked like the battle for conference bragging rights a few weeks ago. Now the loser is staring at two losses in conference. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Stanford, who is 2-0 in conference for the first time since 2001. They hope to end a five-game series losing streak versus UCLA this weekend.
The Rest
Notre Dame puts its 7-0 all-time record versus Washington to the test this weekend. Keeping QB Jimmy Clausen protected and in the game is paramount. TCU must be scratching its collective head over their ranking compared to Boise State, a team they beat in the Poinsettia Bowl last season. TCU is 3-0 with two wins on the road versus ACC schools. Boise has the win over Oregon, which garnered it much more press than anything the Horned Frogs have done. And polls are sadly based on perception more than reality. There is an assumption that if TCU wins out including games at home versus Utah and on the road against Air Force (no one is mentioning the Falcons who beat the Horned Frogs at home two years ago) and BYU they will get the BCS game spot. Still, they would rather be a lot closer in the voting.
South Florida made a big statement Saturday in a game that meant a great deal to the program. The D dominated Florida State throughout and QB B.J. Daniels was dynamic rushing and passing. It was quite the starting debut for Daniels. The key now for coach Jim Leavitt is to keep his team focused on Syracuse this Saturday when the following game is Cincinnati on 10/15. We have witnessed fast starts by the Bulls before. Pittsburgh lost for the first time this season in a surprising shootout with North Carolina State. QB Russell Wilson tore apart the Panthers D for 322y passing with 4 TDs while adding 91y rushing.
ACC
Just like last season, once the ACC begins to make sense the action on the field turns things topsy-turvy. Not one team is unbeaten overall and most of the contenders have had performances (Miami to Virginia Tech, Virginia Tech to Alabama, North Carolina to Georgia Tech, Georgia Tech to Miami, BC to Clemson etc.) where they did not look very good. It is anyone’s guess who will play in the ACC title game.
SEC
Is Florida vulnerable? After the ugly game versus Tennessee and then concussion suffered by QB Tim Tebow in the rout of Kentucky, the Gators have had to overcome some obstacles. The good news for them is that no one in the East looks to be within seven points of them and LSU—expected to be the toughest team on the Florida schedule—prevailed by a whisker against Mississippi State (why use Dixon as a decoy on 3rd and 4th down from the half foot line?) and needs to improve a lot in two weeks. Alabama is playing as well as anyone in the conference at the moment, but finally has true road games coming up in clashes with Kentucky and Mississippi. The Rebels cannot look ahead to that game or they will lose to Vandy for the second straight year.
Big Ten
The conference currently has three 4-0 teams and not one them with the word “State” in their title as Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin stand alone after a wild weekend. Ohio State is improving by the week and remains the favorite, while both Illinois and Michigan State are looking more like second division rank and file as opposed to the title challengers they hoped to be when September began. There should be a lot of movement at the top after this weekend, although Iowa is safe for this week with Arkansas State coming to town. On their schedule the following week? Michigan.
Big 12
The conference race does not truly get into gear until next week as the sole game between Big 12 teams takes place in Kansas City where Iowa State and Kansas State do battle. Oklahoma travels to Miami to keep their national title hopes alive. A loss and the focus from now on will be the Big 12 title. Texas A&M meets Arkansas in Arlington to renew an old SWC battle. The two old rivals met every year from 1934 to 1991, but not since then. Tune in Friday for a Remember When look back on a past memorable game between the Hogs and Aggies. Meanwhile the dynamic Robert Griffin had his season end with a knee injury suffered in a game against Northwestern State. Baylor was not going to win the Big 12 South, but they would have made some noise in the conference and were targeting a post-season appearance for the first time since 1994. All that may be gone with the loss of Griffin, one of the most valuable players in football. Former starting QB Blake Szymanski is banged up as well, but needs to heal up soon to rally the Bears.
Pac 10
Oregon? The Ducks returned from near death in a big way by pouncing on the Bears this past week
end. They cannot maintain that level of defensive excitement over the course of the year, but do not have to this weekend against Washington State. Meanwhile, the upcoming clash between Cal and USC looked like the battle for conference bragging rights a few weeks ago. Now the loser is staring at two losses in conference. On the opposite end of the spectrum is Stanford, who is 2-0 in conference for the first time since 2001. They hope to end a five-game series losing streak versus UCLA this weekend.
The Rest
Notre Dame puts its 7-0 all-time record versus Washington to the test this weekend. Keeping QB Jimmy Clausen protected and in the game is paramount. TCU must be scratching its collective head over their ranking compared to Boise State, a team they beat in the Poinsettia Bowl last season. TCU is 3-0 with two wins on the road versus ACC schools. Boise has the win over Oregon, which garnered it much more press than anything the Horned Frogs have done. And polls are sadly based on perception more than reality. There is an assumption that if TCU wins out including games at home versus Utah and on the road against Air Force (no one is mentioning the Falcons who beat the Horned Frogs at home two years ago) and BYU they will get the BCS game spot. Still, they would rather be a lot closer in the voting.
I understand the SEC is a strong conference. But two weeks in a row they have 3 teams in the top 4 in the polls. Dad gumit what is it going to take for the writers or the coaches to see that there are other good teams out there. Let's not just pencil in SEC teams in the top 6 every week so the computer rankings will keep the conference high and assure the SEC of another 2 loss team playing for the National Championship.
ReplyDeleteIt is ridiculous that LSU is ranked where they are, based both on their play on the field and expected finish to the season. They have not played very well and are looking like an 8-4 team at best.
ReplyDelete